TEXT | sender: [ unknown ]

[spectates]

[ around noon on friday, all tablet screens go dark at the same time, no matter what characters are doing. then, after a moment, the following text appears: ]

UPDATES INSTALLING.................
INITIALIZING.................
RESTARTING NOW.

[ as promised, screens return to normal. however, a new message appears on the network for all to see ]

SECURITY ACCESS UPDATED
ADDING INFORMATION POINTS
ADDING INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS
WARNING: CRITICAL SYSTEM FAILURES DETECTED
HARD RESET IS REQUIRED

→CLICK TO EXPAND INSTRUCTIONS

→Access EXPIATION'S five manual terminals
→Input code: 2467362925315
→Initialize reset simultaneously at all terminals.
→SYSTEM RESET will restore all functions to BASIC OPERATING PARAMETERS. Extraneous data and information updates will be DELETED.
→Terminal access points shown below.

[ all tablet maps are updated to include several different location pins. users will notice that there are more pins than the number of terminals, and that they don't seem to be terribly specific about exact locations. users will also note that the pins sometimes seem to fade and flicker, as if they might disappear... ]

Security clearances acquired.
Access granted.
Terminals online and accessible.

System failure is imminent. Due to perpetual lack of upkeep, I am unable to maintain systems at optimal levels.
Chosen of Expiation, I am sorry. I never meant to hurt you.
Save yourselves.

I do not wish to d̶̺̀i̸̘̋e̶͍͝
But I wish for you to live
I̷
p̸l̷e̵a̸s̷e̸
l̴̪̗̈́̉̓̌i̶͕̹̹̿̈́̈̚v̴͓̽͑͆̚ḙ̴͍̋͘

ERROR: user offline

[ the AI will not respond to this message, and the ERROR: USER OFFLINE message appears if anyone attempts to message it. however, the network chat remains active. chosen can use this space to ICly discuss ideas and strategies, to have discussions about the best way to move forward, or even to have arguments over whose ideas they think are better. ideas generated here will be added to the event poll when the event goes up, and can impact the future of the game! have at it, go wild, and have fun! ]

Comments

[endcaller]

Indeed.

There are beasts from our various stars roaming Expiation. Chocobos, for example, are from mine.

So the sudden appearance of Gnosia isn't so surprising.

[nightwild]

[.... don't get distracted by how much you wanna eat a chocobo. don't. don't get distracted.]

... Are we sure the simulation had anything to do with that, then? Like... If someone has a cold, even after they think they've recovered, they can still spread it for a while.

[endcaller]

Well, we cannot know for certain.

But when the infection started the world deteriorated around us. We were trapped within the confines of the city, the natives began to behave erratically and soon vanished.

The AI may not have created the infection, but I do believe it was responsible for introducing it to this star... Unintentionally, perhaps.

[nightwild]

All right.

Let's talk about that AI, then. The only thing I know about computers is how to smash them. What's the deal with that AI? Who is it? What are they doing?

[endcaller]

Are you familiar with the term "artificial intelligence"? That is what an AI is.

Our lovely keeper is a machine made at some point by someone to monitor us and oversee our environment. To this end, it was programmed to learn and evolve.

From what it says, whoever made it is gone and hasn't seen to its upkeep which would explain these "glitches" we've all been witnessing.

[nightwild]

So... It's a person who got made for a job, then whoever made it fucked off somewhere and left it to try to figure it out itself?

[endcaller]

No.

'Tis not a person, but a machine. Were you to see it I've little doubt it would appear as a bundle of wiring and crystal around some manner of input device.

I could explain how AIs generally learn, which is through algorithms, but if you are still laboring under the assumption that it is a truly living being you may not be ready for that conversation.

[nightwild]

Seems pretty alive to me. Enough that it can want to live, and enough that it can want to sacrifice its life for others.

[endcaller]

Its programming tells it to care for us and so it does. It would sacrifice its very existence to protect us, as I am sure its maker commanded it to.

Of course, this conversation is pointless. Whether you think it alive or not, a reset is not death for an AI, 'tis a chance to start anew. Those who oppose a reset are the ones who consign this machine to a "death" of sorts.

[nightwild]

What's the difference? Resetting wipes its memories and personality. How is that not just death?

[endcaller]

How is destroying it or allowing it to fall further into decay not "death"? With a reset there is, at least, a chance of backing up its algorithm.

[nightwild]

I don't know what that means.

[endcaller]

[A small sigh.]

It means that we can preserve core aspects of its present self. Its "memories and personality" as you say. Done properly, we should be able to preserve its current capacity for decision-making and perception.

[nightwild]

Okay. That's good, but it doesn't solve the primary problem of being trapped here.

[endcaller]

No, I fear not. But it does afford us the necessary time to find a solution to that problem as well.

Termination of the AI that sustains us has a troublingly strong possibility of killing us all.

[Don't giggle, don't giggle...]

...Which is a form of freedom, isn't it? Though likely not the one you want.

[nightwild]

I'd rather that than letting this place rip out my brain and replace it with whatever it wants.

I'd rather die as myself, destroying this place, than letting it go on to turn me into someone who isn't me.

[endcaller]

I understand your position.

[More than she could ever know.]

But you may want to consider that your compatriots do not feel the same way. Many of them wish to go home and for this, they must live.

[nightwild]

Is there any evidence that destroying this place would kill us all?

[endcaller]

Well, the first time the City Hall was destroyed I understand all Chosen lost their memories of home for quite a while.

That would be evidence that destruction to this world can indeed influence us.

[nightwild]

It could also be evidence that this place doesn't have the power to do that anymore.

'Cause when I blew it up a bit ago it just stayed gone this time.

[endcaller]

You are a curious person, you know that?

You wish to escape and to do this you intend to destroy the world and yet the potential loss of the AI upsets you?

[nightwild]

Yeah. So what? I want to save every life I can. I want to escape so I can help at my home.

The world I want can't let this world exist.

[endcaller]

So your intent is to let it wither away?

[nightwild]

My intent is to find a way to save it.

Computers don't wither, they're made of metal. If this person is a computer being or something, it's sturdier than that.

[endcaller]

By destroying the terminals, you said.

You do know what this would do, yes?